Apply physical world tactics to your online marketing strategy

The Number 1 problem people have with their online sales strategy is THEY DON’T HAVE ONE!

But for those that think they do have a strategy, quite often they get too distracted by shiny objects and short lived tactics and tend to over-complicate everything.

The surest way to have online marketing success is to mirror what marketing works in the physical world.
Let me explain…

Imagine you think that you are going to need a new laptop in the future. Listening to the radio you hear about this new laptop that sounds amazing. It has facial recognition software, it has tons of voice activated features, it is immune to all viruses… It’s exactly what you are looking for and want.

But the radio ad doesn’t tell you where you can purchase it!

How frustrating would that be?

That’s what a lot of bloggers are doing today. They are giving tons of great information and providing value, but they don’t have a call to action. They don’t have a way for their visitor to actually make a purchase.

But let’s say somehow you are able to learn that this particular laptop is sold at BestBuy. So you head over there and in the parking lot you see a guy with his trunk open and he’s selling that exact laptop as the one you want for $200 cheaper than it is inside.

He tells you it even comes with a 5 year warranty. All you have to do is come back to this parking lot and he’ll be here.

Yeah Right!!!!

So who would you purchase from? The fly-by-night sales-from-my-trunk guy, or would you spend the extra $200 and buy it from a store that’s been around for years and has 100’s of locations?

Now if it was a shovel or an axe, I’d probably save some $$$ and buy from “Trunk Guy”, but something I assume may need follow up repair and care, I’m going to spend the extra bucks.

Trunk Guy just doesn’t have enough credibility.

And in my opinion, that is what most sales funnels are. A sale attempt from some fly-by-night online scammer.

But wait!

What if as I was walking away from Trunk Guy he told me that he actually owns a chain or electronic retail stores himself, and I could return the laptop for warranty repair at any of his dozens of brick and mortar establishments.
Well, if that is legit, then that’s a game changer isn’t it?

But let’s forget about Trunk Guy for a second and go into Best Buy. There you see the laptop beside all the other laptops. And it looks as awesome as you thought it would… But it’s expensive.

You wonder if it’ll go on sale? You wonder is maybe Costco has it for cheaper? You wonder if there is another similar brand that costs less?

So what do you do?

You leave the store without purchasing.

And that’s what most websites do. They show you something cool, something you want, but there is no urgency to purchase.

What does K-Mart do (or did… is K-Mart still around)?

They have “Blue Light Specials”. Head over to the Blue Flashing Light and pick yourself up a killer deal.

Now THIS is the proper use of a sales funnel. If a website can incorporate a sales funnel into their online strategy, they are off to the races.

Now there is a sense of urgency. Now there is a reason not to wait and make the purchase now.

The sales funnel can offer a time sensitive discount, or it can be used to collect an email address to ensure that once the laptop is purchased, it is purchased from you.
So this is what I’m talking about when applying physical world tactics to your online marketing strategy.

If all you have is a sales funnel, then it’s kinda like selling out of the trunk of your car.

If your website isn’t aligned with a sales funnel, where is the urgency, why should they purchase from you?

If you have a blog with no Calls to Action, then what’s the point? It’s like having a radio ad that doesn’t tell the listener where to purchase what you’re message was about.

But if you combine your blog with your website and sales funnel, now you have created a Credibility Accelerator Vortex of significant power.

https://youtu.be/71_jkouukd0